The Ballad of Professor So-and-so and the Blonde Chick

Written, read, and
performed by larrylopes…

Some
say it lasted 6 hours, others 6 days, still others 6 weeks…a few surmise 6
months; and for a daring few, 6 years. But that it did happen, all agreed.

The
ghostly journey began on a late evening, boarding a ghastly land ship that
would take them to both nowhere and everywhere. Into the lands of the
Unforgiving North they went, the Great Unknown; through passages where fires
defied logic…through places with names that no ordinary man could begin to
pronounce…and with master boarders who at the least offense would throw out
unsuspecting subjects into the cold pits it traversed.

Along
the way, the pair met other kindred souls with much or little to aspire, whose
eyes had gained or lost sparks, and a gifted few whose goals were to have none.
The journey took its toll as not all who embarked arrived, and an even fewer
returned.

He
seemed to lead the way, as if knowing that for such an adventure, the one who
had to gain or lose the most had to part the way. Challenges came in many
forms, rifts had to be mended, reciprocity and pushbacks required. Midway they
heard the call…not all was right with her. Ahh, but she endured…matching his
steely energy with a will to continue to where few had, if any, succeeded in
the past. The haunting journey rolled on to its destination and back. Triumph
was attained to those who endured the rite, and the metal doors let them out.

Upon
the return–many eyes, ears and mouths noticed–she was still as radiant as
ever, even more. Her eyes were bright, her body pushed forward, and her voice
glowed…as if both lips and buttocks had absorbed the gift of life. He, on the
other hand, was a shell of his former self. White beard now covered his face,
his eyes were sunken to the deep bone, and he could barely sit. And, as a key
observer pointed out: though the lights were on…(heh heh…) there was nobody
home…